INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS SURVIVE AT MCC

International students from all MCC campuses gather at Penn Valley (Uno Yi/The Current)

by Uno Yi

About 150 F1 visa students from 20 countries are studying at Metropolitan Community College this semester, according to Bobbie Gustin, Cultural Awareness Resource Center Coordinator at MCC.

International students come to America hoping that getting an education in America will lead them to better lives.

“I am expecting education in the states can guarantee a better job,” said Sabita Thepa, who comes from Nepal. According to the South Korean newspaper Kyunghyang Daily, around 18.7 percoent of the board members of the 30 highest ranked companies there, including Hyundai Motors, Samsung and LG, graduated from universities in the United States.    View slideshow   

An American degree does not seem to necessarily mean that international students will get better jobs after graduation, though.

“Two out of five my friends are studying somewhere as international students. No big deal at all,” said John Chang, who is from South Korea.

 Some international students come to America only to learn English. “I came here to learn English and American culture. But it’s not easy at all,” South Korean student Inho Hong said. “But it is giving me a chance, at least, to understand other cultures. Plus, America is the best place to meet people from all around world.”  

Gustin said that language barriers are the first big challenge the international students have to face, and added that the communication issue makes it hard for international students.

“[Americans] speak so fast,” said Reina Yamajaki, who is from from Japan. And American students complain about international students’ accents. “When they say something [in the] classroom, it is almost impossible to understand what they’re talking about,” said American student Daryl Doolittle, who is taking psychology at Penn Valley.

 International students share the view that the second challenge they have is culture. Islamic students complained about Americans’ point of view on religion. Momin Ansare remembered a classmate who said, “Democracy and Islam can’t be happen at the same time,” not knowing Ansare’s religion.

Students from Asian countries showed difficulty in understanding their American friends’ way of thinking. “They don’t know how to respect seniors, or at least they have different ways to respect them,” Chang said.

Feeling homesick is the one of the biggest challenges that almost every international student suffers. “It’s no fun at all if you I can’t see any loved ones, like family and friends and girlfriend. I miss them so much,” said Dimitar Beshkov, who is from Bulgaria.

International students at MCC pay around three times more tuition than Missouri residents.  

“I don’t know why I have to pay more to take the same education as American students,” Beshkov said. Others, however, argued that the pricey tuition is fair.

“We don’t pay any tax  in making this school system. No wonder we have to pay more,” Ansare said.   

More than $3,500 tuition leads international students to work illegally. Even when a student visa does not allow international students to work in the U.S., the reality is that a lot of them have still worked as part-timers. 

“Whether it’s legal, illegal, or anything, I have to work anyway,” one student said.